Assasin's Creed
by HoNdeR
Summary: ACxNaruto: Naruto finds himself against a white dressed man out of nowhere... what can this compromise possibly hold for the future? Watch as Naruto, along with the assassin, will work to make the world a better place...
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N_****: HoNdeR All Mighty here! I had shortly read a ACxNaruto crossover, and it was like... crap? SO I decided that I would give it a try and make something similar, though not at all like that story. However, I took the idea of sucha crossover from a NaruHIna story with the words... 'Keeper of the Creed' in it's title, if memory serves. I hope this Xover will work out. If you don't know much about the Assasin's Creed game, don't worry, I don't make many references to it. About Altair's weapons though...**

**For those that don't know: He has a sword, a silver dagger at his back, and knife holsters at his chest and back. The knifes are mostly thrown weapons. He also has a dagger hidden in his left glove. If you wanna see how he really looks, check 'Assasin's Creed' on google for pictures, I'm sure you'll find plenty.**

**Now on with the tale!**

_**Assassin's Creed**_

_**Chapter1: To Stand With Honor**_

The light… the light of the sun. He didn't recall where he was last time… fighting Al Mualim… yes, that's where he was. Fighting him at the Assassin's keep, but where was he now? It looked like… a forest?

His eyes under the white hood darted left and right, searching for a possible way to determine his location. He sighed as one thing was for sure…

This was not Al Mualim's keep, nor was it his home country, that was for sure. For firstly, his land had never seen so many trees together in one place, and secondly, there weren't forests around last time he checked. So how did he come here? What happened when he defeated Al Mualim and hid away the artifact?

He looked once more around him, endless colors of green and brown for his sight to behold. The grass under him seemed so soft…

He stood up from his sitting position, careful not to make any noise, as he had no idea whether this land was friendly or not. Now what does one do when he finds himself in the middle of nowhere?

Recon. And the best way to do it, is to find a high place… with a few swift movements that one could easily compare to the elusiveness of a cat, or a panther, he found himself climbing one of the huge trees, quickly reaching the top in a matter of seconds.

He pushed away a few branches and leafs so that he could see what lied beyond. He nearly fell with what he saw…

XxxxX

'_Damn Tsunade-obaa-chan, having me do such a foolish mission. Why does she have genins for, anyway?'_ irritated he was, as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch, hasty to reach home. This mission was the most boring thing he had done since he became jounin. And that was…

The cat he held inside the box struggled to get away, as if she already knew what was to be of her. He found a small part of himself to be able to feel sorry for her, knowing that the old wife of the Fire Lord would most likely crush her cat's bones again when she got her back. He was glad she wasn't his grandma… sometimes he feared her hugs could be stronger that Tsunade's.

Why did she have to put a jounin for such a task? Weren't any genins available? God damn it, he thought such trivial mission were over by the time he even became Chunin! He sighed… there was nothing he could do now. At least he would get a regular B ranked payment… since the Lord's wife had run amok and had even dared grab and shake Tsunade to get the mission done as soon as possible. Maybe the B ranking was Tsunade's payback… somehow…

XxxxX

Perfect… no matter how far he looked, he could only see trees everywhere, with a few hills popping around and mountains at the edge of his eyesight. He sighed once more as he prepared to fall back to the ground. There weren't any haystacks around, so he would have to do it the old way…

XxxxX

Jump, jump, jump. Traveling back would always be the most boring thing ever, especially when you had no companions. What can happen when you just jump from tree to tree? A white-dressed man with a sword falling on you? No, such things only happened in the movies or something. Wait…

White-dressed man?

XxxxX

A loud thud, that's what he heard before his world went in a rampart of colors before he regained vision. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground, a blond man dressed in black and orange having fell beside him. Who the hell would jump trees like that? Was he an assassin? He thought he had killed them all… damn it!

He jumped to a ready stance as he prepared his assassination blade, ready to strike his 'enemy' before he could regain his footing. The teen was sitting up, rubbing his head at the moment. He had to strike…

Now!

XxxxX

Oh look… a star! Wait, it was noon, from where did the star come from? He shook his head, trying to make the blurry images clearer. And it worked… next thing he knew, the white-dressed man from before was jumping on him, a blade in his left hand, aiming for his… neck?

God damn it!

XxxxX

Damn… he clenched his teeth as his opponent managed to stop his blade in the last moment. Split second too late, now he had little chances of a quick kill. The teen pushed him away and he quickly regained his footing, preparing one of his thrown blades…

"Who the hell are you?" the teen said in a language he didn't understand. It sounded really strange… a language fluid in motion yet nothing like what he had heard before. "No matter, here is where you die" he repelled and it hit the spot. The teen looked confused, probably he too not understanding what he had just said. In a matter of seconds, two knifes flied towards the unsuspecting ninja…

XxxxX

What the hell was that? Had the guy speaking problems? It sounded as if he said "I kill pigs with wings" or something like that. He was probably nuts… no wonder he wore white clothes. Out of reflex, he grabbed a kunai to repel the incoming blades. That was close… he shouldn't lose focus, this guy meant what he was doing. He guessed he cursed, for his teeth where clenched and his face strained with anger. Now that he thought about it… why did he wear a white hood?

Said man unsheathed his sword, taking a swordsman stance before him. What was he doing? He never was one for sword fights, but if that's what he wanted… then who was he to say no?

XxxxX

The blonde was fast, he would give him that much. He repelled every strike the teen threw at him with his dagger, his hand practically moving on its own. He had fought far better swordsmen that this one. He dodged one of the attacks, and using the momentum, he pushed the teen away, slashing him with his sword at the stomach along the way, the wound probably a fatal one.

XxxxX

What… what happened? Next thing he knew, he had his hand on his stomach… covered in blood…

He looked down at his abdomen, seeing the blood spilling from an horizontal wound. He was bleeding…badly…

He could feel the wound struggling to close as his healing power started kicking in. But nevertheless, it was a very deep wound. He knew that he would already be dead, was it not for Kyuubi.

He turned to look at his opponent, his face painted with shock…

XxxxX

How did he survive this? He had killed many men with this move, and most of them never even flinched after the strike was over. Yet this one kept standing, his face covered in pain and anger as he looked back at him. What was up with this boy… this man…?

No matter, he would end it, now. His hand reached for another blade, and in a matter of seconds, it was flying towards the teen, it's deadly accuracy aiming for his neck…

XxxxX

It was over… he was just returning from a cat rescue mission, and he found himself against a man he could hardly touch. Ironic… the cat had escaped when he had crushed on him and the box flew open, letting her run away. Perfect, now he had to chase her again…

He saw the blade coming… he could do nothing to stop it, no, not without killing himself from the strain and blood loss…

XxxxX

Oh perfect. Where he had one idiot to kill, now where three more. A teen with glasses and a trench coat that covered all his body, along with his hair stood beside the man he fought, his hands hidden in small clouds of… bugs?

To the other side, the other teen looked more… feral, as he had straight spiky brown hair, red fang tattoos under his eyes and real fangs at his teeth, along with an enormous fur ball that people came to call dogs beside him.

And in the middle, between him and his previous opponent, was a girl with long dark blue hair, lavender eyes that like them he had seen none before, and a lavender white jacket. One thing he found similar to all of them, where the sandals and that thing that looked like a headband, that had a symbol that somehow resembled a leaf.

"Naruto, how did you manage to compromise in such a situation?" the bug-boy asked in the same language the blonde had used before. He hated himself for not understanding them, yet he let it not show. He couldn't allow fear to strain his thoughts. His face was emotionless and his blade was ready…

"Dunno… it's probably my lucky day…" the blonde said weakly as he tried to crouch, the blood having stopped pouring, yet he could feel the weakness the loss gave him.

"You bet it is. You where lucky we where also returning from a mission using the same route, and I smelled the blood" now the wild looking one said. He prepared himself for any action they would take… he had no idea who they where, and they looked nothing like normal soldiers.

"Hinata" the bug man said once more and the lavender eyed girl turned to look at him. He guessed it was her name… what strange names, he had never heard ones like this before, not even from the Englishmen.

"Yes, Shino?" she responded, her voice hesitant. Now that he noticed, her face seemed a little flushed, while the rest of what he could see of her body was pale. Was she blushing, and if it was blushing, then for whom? Well, he would kill her anyway, associating with her romance interests was something far less than trivial for him. He also guessed that the bug boy was Shino, as the word 'Hai' couldn't possibly be a name. Yet you can never know…

"Take care of Naruto, you are the only one capable of healing jutsus. We will restrain this man from interrupting you. Go, now" he momentarily looked at the girl, taking his gaze away from the white-dressed man "He is dying" and that seemed to make the girl go even paler that she normally was. She rushed back to the blonde, getting her hands over his wound. What could she possibly do? Magic?

His eyes under the hood went wide as he saw green lighting covering her hands. As she placed them over the wound, he could clearly see it healing, slowly.

The blonde mouthed something… 'Arigato, Hinata'. The thankfulness on his face made him guess that 'Arigato' meant 'thank you'. It wasn't easy to learn such a language, but if he even had pieces of knowledge about it, then it could come in handy, someday probably.

"Shino, have you drained any of his chakra? The guy seems strong…" the wild looking boy said to his companion. Shino responded with an 'Iie' and that made the feral one look incredulously at him. He guessed once more that 'Iie' simply meant 'no'…

"What? Why not?!" he asked, his tone incredulous. "For he has no chakra" the tone in which he said that phrase seemed curious. He wondered what the chakra thing they kept repeating meant…

"What?! How can he have no chakra?" the wild boy asked frantically once more. He guessed the 'Nani' word meant 'what' as he had seen many people taking that incredulous look and tone when they said 'what' in any language.

"His body… he has never used chakra, thus his coils are inactive." Shino seemed to explain, and the wild teen looked at him once more, his dog growling… a lot.

"This guy must be dangerous… for having done that" he pointed at the bloodied blond "to Naruto" he said. "But if he has no chakra…" now he smiled, showing off his long canines "then he must be a piece of cake"

"No, Kiba!" he heard the blonde yelling from behind the two teens. The wild teen that was about to attack, turned to look back at the blond. Since 'Iie' seemed to mean 'no', he made the guess once more, that 'Kiba' was the teen's name. What strange names people around here tended to have…

"Don't underestimate him" the blonde said seriously, yet he clutched his stomach in pain as he sat back down, the blue haired girl starting healing him once more "Calm down Naruto-kun, don't strain yourself, this wound is serious" she whispered and he only nodded, calmly now sitting in his place.

"Kiba, you will be his opponent. He has no chakra for me to drain, thus my bugs are useless. I will however, try to give any cover I can" Shino said as he jumped away on a tree branch, his bugs residing away… inside him? That seemed… awkward. The Kiba guy though, grinned at him once more, before launching his attack, dog accompanying swiftly behind…

Kiba shouted something, and his features became even more feral, as his nails turned to claws and started running at all four. His dog however, turned in an exact copy of him…

What the hell was that? Illusions? He rolled away from their combined slashing attacks, and seeing the chunks of the tree that was behind him being clawed away, this was not an illusion. Not even close.

He took out his sword, seeing as to assassinating with his hand blade was out of question for such close range fighters. If he used his knifes now, then they would go to waste, as this clawed hands looked capable of repelling. He had to think fast… how could he defeat a melee fighter, no two, when they seemed to be able to simply overpower him?

His eyes once more went wide, as one of them yelled 'Gatsuuga', and they both started swirling against him in a whirlwind of claws. He was sure that getting caught in that, was not what he wanted…

He rolled once more away, behind a tree and took in hand one of his thrown blades. The moment the swirl stopped, both 'teens' had their backs exposed to him, even for a second. That was all he needed…

Kiba growled in pain as a dagger found itself in his kidney. He pulled it out and threw it back at the man, much more clumsily though, since it was much lighter than a kunai and his hand wasn't used to such weights. The man caught the blade from the hilt and grinned back at him, throwing it once more, but this time…

He heard a poof as Akamaru fell back to the ground, yelping in pain. That bastard… both he and Akamaru expected the dagger to go for him again and he caught them unprepared, if only for a moment. He checked the area the dagger hit… it was a vital nerve at the neck, but not deadly. Though if Akamaru tried to move his head now, he would die…

Tears started finding themselves on his eyes as he saw his long-time companion yelping in pain. He angrily looked back at the white-dressed man, who just happened to not be there…

"Right here…" he heard a whisper, though it was not in his language. He hastily looked up, only to see the man jumping on him from above, throwing him to the ground and his hand-blade going for his neck, ready to kill…

A swarm of bugs hit the white dressed man hard. It felt like a brick wall… and it hurt. Especially if you combine it with a crush on a tree. Damn it, he was careless. He thought that he had Kiba in hand, and he would, was it not for Shino and his damn bugs…

He was outnumbered, that was for sure. At least he had incapacitated the dog. Now he had one less problem to worry about. A smirk found itself on his face as he thought something else…

He hastily stood up and threw another dagger at Shino, who's bugs swarmed in front of him to protect him.

Perfect…

Another dagger found itself in his hand, and in a matter of a second, it was flying against the lavender eyed girl, who was still tending to the blonde's wounds...

Surprised he was, as the dagger found itself embed in the blonde's back, instead of the girl's neck. No matter, this time it was a far more fatal wound. He smirked as he saw the blond falling…

"Naruto!" he heard her yell. 'Naruto' the name then, eh?

"Why…" her eyes where starting to fill up with tears

"Dunno… it looked like a good idea… at that moment…" and he let the grasp of darkness take over him…

"How touching. Now die" and another knife could be seen flying towards her. Though this time, Shino's bugs where there to stop it. Damn it… he checked his holsters… he only had three knifes left…

He ducked, avoiding a clawed attack that could easily severe his head. He reached at his back while ducking, and before the teen knew it, he had a silver dagger embed in his chest…

He kicked him away, freeing his weapon from Kiba's body and letting him fall back to the ground. Blood dripped from his blade as he looked back at the others.

"One down, two to go" he whispered as he turned and jumped into the surrounding bushes…

"Hinata" Shino whispered and she looked up at him while trying to heal the wound at Naruto's back. It was fatal, and one mistake here in the field would lead to his death…

"Keep an eye out for him, if you please. He is far more dangerous that he looks…" Shino's bugs swarmed silently around his hands and Hinata only nodded as she tried to also keep some of her Byakugan's focus off Naruto. It wasn't easy… there where many nerves she had to keep an eye on. His spinal column should not be touched either…

When she decided that he would stay alive for now, she rushed towards Kiba, who had a straight cut in the chest from the man's weapon. Her hands shone with green light as she hasted to heal him too.

Perfect…

His dagger found itself embed in Shino's back, right at his heart. There was no way this one would survive, at least. His smirk disappeared though, as said teen dissipated in bugs…

"What the hell?" he whispered to himself. Was he made of bugs or something? Was he dead?

'_I was careless… I couldn't sense him, since he has no chakra. I was lucky my instinct didn't fail me this time…' _Shino thought as he kept himself hidden between the bushes. He had managed in the last moment to replace himself with a bug clone…

'_He is dangerous… far more than I had estimated to begin with…'_ he thought once more yet the man didn't seem to stop there…

A knife flew once more, this time aiming for Hinata. He extended his hand, sending his bugs as swiftly as possible to intercept it. Damn him, damn his foolishness! How could he let himself fall into deep thinking, when Hinata was out there in the open?

Split second too late… if he was only for an idea of the second faster, the knife would have been stopped…

The girl didn't even yell in pain, as the knife hit her back. She only limply fell to the ground, unconscious…

This was getting nowhere. This man was too strong, even for him to defeat alone. They had to flee, before it was too late.

He enclosed himself in a shield of bugs, while the tiny insects took hold of each of his friend's bodies, holding them carefully, especially Akamaru, so that the dog would not die from the nerve wrecking hit it had suffered. He sent another small swarm of his bugs against the white dressed man so he would back off. He did, as he jumped away in the bushes once more. Taking his friends close to him, Shino started leaping away, towards home, with all the speed he could muster while carefully controlling his bugs. Time was of the essence, their lives where at stake…

XxxxX

He sighed as he looked out of the bushes once more. That Shino guy had left, taking his friend's with him. The only remainder of this battle, the bloodied grass. He searched around the area for his knifes, since he doubted he would find anymore of them in the forest. After a few minutes, he had managed to retrieve them all. Lucky him, the bug user had taken them off the bodies of his friend's before leaving. He had to thank him for it some other time… 'Arigato' was it?

XxxxX

Konoha… he could see Konoha… good…

Genma jumped off his seat as he saw a swarm of bugs approaching. Probably an Aburame. And he seemed to hold… corpses?

The Aburame came to a halt before him, panting heavily as he touched the bodies down carefully…

"Hospital… quickly" he whispered, before falling to the ground himself…

Genma had little time to think as his wide eyes estimated the situation. Four teens wounded in vital spots, with a chakra depleted Aburame. His hands flied through seals… "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" a poof of smoke filled the air as he slammed his palm to the ground. When it cleared, a hawk appeared through the dissipating smoke.

"Go call for medics, now!" he shouted and the bird was off towards the hospital in amazing speed. He smiled to himself, knowing all too well how much faster the summoning hawks could be than the normal ones. He kneeled besides each wounded ninja, estimating the damage.

The blonde, recognized as Naruto, the demon child, as the villager's called him, had a deep wound in the stomach, most likely done from a sword and a wound on his back at a vital spot. This was strange… the wound wasn't big enough to belong to a kunai, neither small to be made by a senbon, yet it was extremely accurate. Whoever it was that had done that, surely knew how to handle a knife.

The blue haired girl had only one wound at the back. Thankfully it wasn't that critical, but she would have a problem walking for a few days. She would live…

The dog boy, who from the tattoos must have been an Inuzuka, sported a trivial wound similar to the others at his stomach, and a deep cut in his chest, probably from a dagger. The cut though didn't seem even similar to that of a kunai…

The Aburame sported no wounds at all. All that he must have had was chakra depletion…

Overall estimation: Whoever that guy was, he was strong, fast, and deadly. And to add to it…

He was not a ninja

XxxxX

He looked up at the sky… it was noon as it seemed, the sun being right above him in the blue wide yonder. He checked his equipment once more…

Sword: Check

Dagger: Check

Knifes: Full

Perfect. He clenched his right hand, letting the mechanism in his glove make the assassination blade come out. He stroke it gently… this blade had taken many lives… and if his estimation was correct, it would take even more. These five that he faced back there where tough. He had met none so strong before. He just hoped that there weren't others like them…

His eyes opened wide when he noticed the trees being more spread, more open, allowing better vision for what lied ahead. In a minute, he found himself on a road…

To the left, the road seemed to spread towards nowhere…

To the right, a caravan was slowly approaching from the distance…

He decided that the best course of action at the moment, would be to wait for the caravan to approach. He had little to no idea as to where he was, so letting someone else lead him sounded good for now. He just hoped that they could at least be able to communicate…

A few minutes passed before the caravan reached them. To his surprise, instead of animals pushing the cars, there where… kids?

The old man at the front car raised his hand in motion for the caravan to stop when they saw him. His narrowed eyes looked for anything suspicious. Seeing his equipment, he turned to their protectors.

He said something he couldn't really make out. Then the kids… no wait, they were too tall to be kids. Probably teenagers. One of them was male, his eyes a pale lavender like the girl he had met before. The girl of the company had her hair made in two tidy buns, a hair style he had never seen before. Her and his outfit reminded him something he had seen in a book…

The third… man… was entirely dressed in green, along with a green jacket. His eyebrows where so thick, that he was sure they would swallow one of his knifes. Maybe he was overreacting here… but the bowl haircut and the large round eyes only reinforced that thought. He seemed to completely lack fashion sense… along with brains, as he seemed to yell something with his fists clenched.

All of them once more sported these headbands he had seen before, with the leaf like symbol. He didn't reach for his weapons though, no, not yet. It seemed far more profitable for him if he befriended them. For now.

The man with the lavender eyes, and long brown hair, approached slowly, his eyes flaring up as veins bulged around them. A pupil also appeared in each respective eye. It was… another awkward thing of this land, he guessed.

"Who are you?" he said yet he didn't understand a word. He searched his mind for what it could mean… the blonde had said the same words when he had first seen him… this would be a wild guess now…

He rose his head, his dark brown eyes looking straight in the man's before him.

"Altair" he said simply. If he was right, then the man's reaction right now would prove it. He didn't even flinch though as his two other companions approached, both in ready stances.

"And what's your business here?" the teen asked once more. It was a real headache, not being able to properly communicate…

"Look, I just need a few information, where I am, who you are. I'm lost…" he said in Arabic. The lavender eyed man quickly recognized the language. He had seen it in a few books in the library of his village. The sound of it had very little similarities to his own. That's why what he had heard right now sounder like "Witches, fly the ground away, kill pop, hair gum. Dad…" of course, anyone in their right mind, would only make out this words with a lot of imagination. He tried to remember what little Arabic he knew…

"What, you, want, here?" he never believed that the few Arabic he had learned from books would someday be helpful. The expression the man's face bore seemed one of recognition.

Altair was no fool. The way this man spoke Arabic alone told him that he knew very little. He had to use his words carefully… maybe he had to speak English?

"I only seek passage to somewhere safe." Altair said, yet the man before him only had his eyes wide. He just hoped that he hadn't said an insult or something…

He spoke… English. Yet not the modern ones. This English were old, since the time of the Crusade. He had read about it in the library. He would spent hours there, reading every book that would fall in his hands. In one of them, he had read about the history of Christendom, a religion very famous around the world. He had read about a Crusade made by the European powers of that time… one of them was England, and the way he spoke English right now made him think, no, know, that he spoke old English.

"Very well. You may come with us" he spoke in English and Altair's expression seemed one of understanding once more. The hooded man smiled "Arigato" he said as he brought his fist to his heart. He turned off his Byakugan as he smiled to himself. It seemed that somehow, he knew some basic Japanese after all…

Yet what intrigued him the most, was that he had no chakra. He had never used it before and that made him a civilian. Or bandit… yet his clothes and gear didn't really look like what bandits tended to use. He had to keep an eye on him, as it seemed…

Altair moved and stood beside one of the wagons, waiting for them to take their positions. He nodded to his teammates and they went back to what they where doing… and that was, pushing the wagons.

He made his own way next to Tenten… "Name?" he heard Altair whispering in English as he passed by. He turned to look at the white clad man, who just seemed to stare off in the space before him

He grinned

"Neji"

A nod was Altair's only response. Neji then took his place beside Tenten, and with a loud "Yosh!" from his green clad companion, they began pushing once more, he and Tenten pushing the first one, and Lee pushing the other. They had to stay in front, for last time they let Lee take the lead, he had gotten so far beyond them, that they suffered chakra depletion when they reached him…

XxxxX

That smell… that sound… he knew them… he knew them… but from where? He had to open his eyes, he had to see…

That all so familiar smell assaulted his nose, the smell of a hospital it was. That sound, the sound of his heartbeat on a monitor. That steady pound of beep after beep. And the white walls and ceiling… no mistake, he really was in a hospital. God damn it…

As the memories of what had happened, what had brought him here started rolling back in his mind, only one thing incredulously managed to pop out.

"The damn cat escaped…" he whispered to himself. Too bad that, neither did it go unheard, nor was he alone.

"Naruto? You're awake!" yelled a voice that he sure hoped that wouldn't be heard at the moment.

'_Sakura…'_ he really wasn't in the mood for one of her endless scolding monologues… he really wasn't…

"You baka! How could you get beaten up so bad!" his injuries weren't that much facial, as much as critical. Was it not for team 8 to intervene, he would long now be dead…

And now that he thought about them, he titled his head to the left, tuning off Sakura as she kept on scolding him. The world seem to narrow as he saw Hinata, in a bed sleeping peacefully not more than a meter away. He had the impression that if he extended his hand, he could even touch her…

Her face was pale… so that was her normal color… he had never really noticed, as she would always flash various shades of red and usually keep her face away from looking at him. And right now, she seemed so peaceful… such a rare occasion…

He had never really thought that she was… cute…

No, bad Naruto. You like Sakura-chan. Now go look at her and leave Hinata alone!

He titled his face to look at Sakura once more. Her lips kept moving and all he could hear was a constant buzzing… that's what her words and insults where now… a buzzing. She had taken that 'I-know-everything' posture again. Legs slightly spread, straight spine, one hand at her middle while the other lifted to the air, a finger pointing to the ceiling. Eyes closed and expression frowned, lips moving endlessly.

He really hoped she could shut up… wait, what? No, no, no. Look at the bright sight Naruto! Sakura-chan is here, caring for you. Admire her slender figure, which looks like she's ready to drive a punch at you. Her delicate hands, that keep accusingly point at you and your mistakes. That beautiful face, that wears a frown nearly always when you are around. And these 'perfect' lips, that keep insulting you every time they get the chance to open themselves.

Okay, okay, calm down. She's not that bad… to tell the truth, she was becoming more fond of him as time passed. She wouldn't drive a punch in his face as good-morning anymore. She would either wait for him to say something stupid and then do it. She had become more gentle with him. Her punches would now aim for less vital spots, except when she was pissed.

Come on, she could make the perfect wife for you one day. He could even imagine it: He, returning home after a tiring mission. She, cooking in the kitchen his favorite ramen. No wait, she didn't know how to cook ramen, so let's say she… boiled potatoes! He imagined himself holding a box, with ramen to accompany the potatoes. She could see him, tired and worn off. She would run up to him, scold him with that posture and then sit him down to eat. He would eat his ramen along with the potatoes, take a shower while she prepared herself for bed, and in the night, when no one else would bother them, in their bed…

He would fall asleep and she would hold herself from punching him. What? How can you make love to your wife when you are so tired after a mission? She would understand, wouldn't she?

Her lips kept moving and moving, now somehow trying to explain how the spinal column of a human worked, and how he had managed to damage it. He titled his head once more to the left…

She was still lying there, so peacefully…

He imagined once more, he returning home after a tiring mission. Opening the door, she would wait at the kitchen, making that amazing Onigiri. He would once more have a box with ramen with him. She would approach him and help him sit down, that smile that sometimes graced her face there, welcoming him home. He would eat the ramen along with that amazing Onigiri. She was a great cook, he knew that all too well having tasted it in a few missions. But back at the fantasy now.

He would take a shower and she would get ready for bed. He would lie down, a warm hug waiting for him right there. She would rest her head on his chest and they would sleep peacefully, the tiring day a thing of the past…

Okay, this was weird. Maybe he should have a medic-nin check up on him. Oh wait, Sakura was a medic-nin…

"Baka, can't you listen for once?" he managed to make out these words, for she was now shaking him violently.

"Sakura…-chan…" he managed to whisper. Now that he noticed, his voice was so sore…

She sighed, the 'I-know-all' posture leaving her body. "Naruto… why are you doing this? You go out for a cat retrieval mission and you're back nearly dead!" she said incredulously, fear evident in her voice. Wait… why fear?

"Naruto… I can't lose you" his world started brightening once more "If you die… then who…" he could see a smile forming on her face. "Who will help me get Sasuke-kun back?" she finished and that light suddenly went dark, like a black-out. He sighed… why did he expect more, anyway?

He was glad his eyes where half closed already. He closed them entirely. Sasuke again… even when he was away to who knows where with that homosexual pedophile Orochimaru, he would still mess with his life. But no, he would not give up! Sakura would one day fall, that was for sure…

"Naruto you baka!" he heard someone yell. Wait… it wasn't Sakura… it was something worse… and because he had his eyes closed, he hoped it was just a nightmare. Opening them a little, he saw Tsunade…

He closed them again. Counting slowly to five, he opened them. She was still there, this time closer. Oh crap, and he couldn't run! He hoped that there where pain killers at the table beside him, at least.

"Wake up!" she shouted and he _had_ to obey. Opening his eyes slowly, he looked at Tsunade's open brown eyes, that where filled with anger… and worry.

"How the hell…" he was sitting up now, letting his back touch the railings of his bed, and the wall. It would be easier to confront her without being laid down…

"Did you manage to be defeated by a bandit! A simple bandit!!" he was sure that she barely restrained herself from ripping her hair out. "Who? You and four other Jounin! There's a reason you are Jounin you know! A damn good reason!" she kept moving her hands around and he hoped that her hands at least wouldn't accidentally hit him.

"A bandit?" he heard Sakura's incredulous voice asking the Hokage. Tsunade only nodded at her student. "Yes, Shino told me that he used no chakra at all. His coils were inactive" Naruto looked down, ashamed at himself. He had let such a man defeat him? He had beaten so many strong enemies… only to be defeated and nearly killed by a… bandit.

"You are lucky you have that regenerative power you know. You should be already dead from that cut in the abdomen alone" the Hokage explained, her voice now calmer and a little shaky. She dreaded the idea of a life without Naruto, after all. Well, his powers weren't enough, he would have died from that wound, was it not for Hinata…

He unconsciously looked at the girl once more, and this time, she had turned side towards them in her sleep, eyes closed, bangs falling free and a hand near her mouth. A smile… a fond, happy smile had found its way on her lips. He had rarely seen her smile… and somewhere in the back of his mind… he never wanted to see it fade away… to think that he had that crazy idea that he wanted to always make her smile. What a fool.

"Don't worry Naruto, she was in the least critical situation than all of you" Tsunade reassured him, assuming that he was worried for said girl's health. Yet as her words left her mouth, Naruto looked as if he had just returned from a trance. She sighed. That boys mind was more complicated that all of the nerve system of the human body.

He only nodded back at her, before he looked back at the sheets of his bed, his mind returning to that trance. She leaned over to Sakura "We should leave him alone…" she whispered softly. He really seemed as if he needed time to think. No wonder, you don't get beat up by a bandit every day.

They both left the room, leaving the teen to his self. Not that he noticed, his mind being drawn in its own little world. A world torn between lavender… and pink…

XxxxX

"He must be a traveling warrior or something, nothing we should worry about" he tried to reassure her, yet she stayed restless. She just couldn't really trust him…

"I don't know. Why would he ask for us to take him along then? If he is a 'traveling warrior', then he should know the way on his own!" she was quite sure that it wasn't tiredness that made him go with them, since he walked beside the first car instead of sitting on it. She was sure that he was listening… and she was glad he didn't understand. He was far too perceptive, and far too equipped to be a simple bandit or a traveling warrior. People like this would usually carry a weapon or two and a backpack. Yet he seemed like he had her father's store on him. With the exception that his weapons where nothing like what she had seen… except in a few books.

He could be a ninja, was it not for his lack of chakra that is. And they had little to no idea what his abilities in battle where. Oh well, it wasn't her problem, was it? She doubted she would ever meet the guy again after he left anyway.

"Where are we heading?" he asked in English. Well, not exactly English, it sounded like them. Luckily, Neji had a lot of knowledge around foreign languages. Someone had to know how to speak in other ways, right?

"Konoha" he simply answered. The man titled his head towards them a little, only the right side of his lower face along with his nose visible. Such a posture was far but familiar to Neji, being a body language reader, that is.

"Village" he simple answered to the unspoken question. Altair only nodded before turning to look forward again.

They only had half an hour before they would reach Konoha. He should probably report to the Hokage… she would know what to do with Altair.

XxxxX

"Naruto-kun…" he heard his name being whispered from the left. His trance was cut short as he turned to look at her. Yet she was still asleep…

Why did she mouth his name her sleep… and why was she smiling like that? He was sure that it was the first time he saw Hinata being that happy… and part of him liked her like that. A lot…

XxxxX

Enormous walls towered before him, a gate in the middle with the symbol of a leaf at the front. And two guards at the gate...

"Yosh!!" We're home!" Lee yelled so loudly that Neji was sure that everyone in the distance of at least a mile had heard it. That guy could be so loud at times…

He and his companions approached the gate, nearing Genma, who just so happened to be on guard duty.

"Hey there guys…" he greeted, twisting the senbon in his mouth while reading a newspaper "You know the drill, just sign the forms there and you're good to go" he said giving them a glance. They all nodded before going to sign the papers.

It wasn't strange for Genma to let people in that easily… he was one of the best in discovering Genjutsus, so a glance was enough for him to know it was them. When they finished with the papers, they turned to lead the small convoy in the city.

And what surprised them the most… Altair wasn't there…

XxxxX

This was too easy… sneaking past a guard that read a newspaper. He had passed through worse, this was a piece of cake.

But blending with the crowd didn't seem like that… as far as he saw, there was none other dressed like him, like a monk. This disguise seemed futile here. He had to find a clothing store… quickly.

He noticed people running around… most of them wore blue pants, a long sleeved shirt and a green jacket, while all of them bore that bandana with the symbol of the leaf. Seeing that they where the only ones carrying weapons out here, he should make sure to get one of these sometime soon…

He entered the first store he found, seeking to blend with the crowd as soon as possible. The shopkeeper quickly rose from his chair when he entered, welcoming him with words he could not understand and a grin that could brake a normal man's face. The questioning tone his last sentence bore let him know that he probably asked something like 'What would you like?' He was sure that not everyone around here could speak English, so he just started making hand gestures.

Pointing at his attire, he showed the shopkeeper the white color. The man seemed to understand. With a few more motions and pointing out a black cloth, the man before him seemed to understand as he kept nodding.

"Choto matte" the man said and went to the back of the store. He sighed as he started looking around the shop…

The walls where wooden, a dull brown color they had. Many clothes hang here and there around the walls in various colors. Some where silken, others woolen, various types of cloth whatsoever. There was a strange thing, some kind of machine at the other end of the store residing on a table. He wondered what was it for…

Then the merchant came back in, scrolls and brushes in his hands along with a meter. He quickly took measures of him and then started writing symbols on one of the scrolls. Wait… he knew this symbols.

He smiled to himself. So he was somewhere in Japan, eh? He had seen such symbols in the book of a traveler he had once assassinated. What an irony…

When the man finished drawing on the scroll, his hands started making strange gestures that he could recognize not. When he finished, he slammed his palm on the scroll

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" and a poof of smoke surrounded the scroll. He jumped back, his hand itching for one of his knifes. What could possible appear when the smoke cleared…?

He eased his posture, when he saw the merchant holding an attire exactly the same like his, only in black, instead of white. He removed the leather holsters for his blades from his current clothing and the red sash on his middle. The merchant though, halted him before he could finish untying the sash. Before he could retort in any kind of way, the merchant did the same gestures and slammed his hand once more, saying the same words. A brand new sash appeared, this one a far cleaner and brighter red color, with golden outlining and golden dragons spread on it. He had to admit… it looked better than his current one.

The merchant pushed him inside a cabin with a mirror. He guessed that he had to change here… no wonder, he couldn't change in the middle of the store now, could he?

Dressing up in his new attire, he put the holsters back into place. His eyes went wide under his black hood this time. The cloths where exactly like his old ones, if only newer and with different colors. Now that he looked more closely though, the black clothing of his attire also had dragons spread throughout it. The color was only slightly brighter than black, making the cloth look forlorn and the dragon's hardly visible from a distance

A grin found itself on his face

He liked it.

But… how would he pay? He couldn't kill the merchant, that would compromise him too much. Plus, if the ones that jumped around with these green attires where anything like the ones he had fought at the forest, then it would be quite a pain to fight them all back. And get away alive, that is. Yet again, how would he pay…?

He opened the curtain, only to see the merchant cowering in fear before a man holding a dagger threatening to puncture his neck, the other hand holding his mouth, preventing him from screaming. The man wore a mask…

His hand instinctively found itself reaching for a knife, and before he knew it, the knife was embed in the thief's head. He slowly fell back, the dagger dropping from his hand. The merchant looked wide eyed at the thief that dropped dead before him, and slowly looked back at his savior.

He was surprised that, the merchant was so fast in falling to his feet and repeating 'Arigato' so fast he could barely make it out. When the merchant looked up, the questioning tone his voice had made him translate it as 'How can I repay you?' He hoped that's what he meant anyway.

He pointed to his new attire. The merchant seemed to understand as he nodded and kept bowing. He slowly approached the corpse of the thief and took his knife back. Setting it back in place, he started to leave the store as he waved with one hand

"Ya-ne" he said, remembering the few 'lessons' he had with these kids back there. Lee and Tenten had volunteered to teach him a few basic Japanese… and it wasn't easy. He left the store, entering the crowd once more…

XxxxX

"Is that all?" the Hokage asked as she tidied a few papers. Neji and his team bowed "Hokage-sama, I've heard that Hinata-sama, along with team 8 and Naruto are at the hospital?" he asked curiously, yet his face betrayed no unnecessary emotions. Only concern.

She looked up at them "Yes, I had been informed by Shino that they where attacked by someone, or rather…" she took a sip from the sake mug she had settled on her desk.

"Team 8 found Naruto fighting with someone. They intervened yet they where all defeated. Shino had to escape with them. He made it back with his chakra depleted from having to carry all these bodies. If he had stayed and fought, then most of them wouldn't have made it back, that's for sure." She took another sip, recalling what information Shino had told her a few hours prior.

"Who could have defeated four Jounin together?" Lee asked incredulously. The Hokage shrugged "That's what I wonder about too. And to think he had no chakra…" she whispered to herself, though Neji caught it. "What, Hokage-sama? He had no chakra?" Tsunade looked up at him "According to Shino, his chakra coils where never used." She took another sip "Oh! Like the man we took along and brought here!" Lee said, somehow finding the situation intriguing to the point he had to yell.

The Hokage managed to swallow, not wanting to dirty the papers she held… they where formal letters after all.

"What?! What is he talking about, Neji?!" She asked angrily as she looked at the Hyuuga. Neji greeted his teeth… he didn't want this to come out…

He then explained the situation. How they found him and what happened next. Which was around nothing, since he only walked along with them… and was taught a few Japanese.

"He didn't cause any trouble and he didn't seem to know anything about these lands." He continued "He also doesn't come from here. He must be coming from the west…" now his eyes narrowed, trying to remember from where he had said he came from…

"Jerusalem" he whispered and the Hokage nearly spat her sake out again. "Jerusalem? Have you got any _idea _where that is?" she said calmly, her voice low and incredulous. Jerusalem, firstly, was far away from here and there where no airplanes as far as she knew in the elemental countries, even ships didn't come here from that far. Secondly, what the hell could an Arab want here?

"Do you know where he is?" she asked, and the negative shake of their heads was not what she wanted. "He vanished when we reached the gates." Neji said, hanging his head in shame. Even when he activated his Byakugan, the man was already away from his line of vision.

"And what was his name?" she asked once more.

Neji rose his head.

"Altair"

XxxxX

"Hey there!" He felt a tap at his leg. He turned, only to see a small girl tugging on his cloth.

"Hey…" he said in Arabic… it shouldn't sound that strange, to a child, right? "Sweety! Haven't I told you not to talk to strangers?" he heard a feminine voice calling out. It must have been his mother…

Looking up, he saw a woman. And what a woman… long, straight brown hair, a mature, pale face and green eyes that matched the beauty of an emerald. He had seen very little women around that looked near like her…

The curious look in her eyes though, made him wonder…

"Kon… konbanha" she managed to say. He tried to remember what that meant… oh right, it must have been 'good-evening'.

"Konbanha" he replied simply. The less he said, the easier it would be. He patted the girl at his feet on the head and she smiled under his gloved touch. He looked up at the sky… it was getting dark. He would have to find somewhere to sleep as it seemed. Too bad… he didn't know what the kanji for 'inn' looked like… if they had inns that is.

This place was stranger that he thought… it was nothing like Jerusalem and the cities he was used too.

She of course, noticed the fact that he estimated time. "Ano…" he turned to look at her, his eyes and expression as soft as possible. He didn't want to scare her, knowing that the weaponry he carried could easily scare most people away. She seemed stunned for a moment…

He waved a gloved hand before her face… and that seemed enough to take her out of her trance.

"Ano… gomen…" 'Gomen' should mean 'sorry', if he remembered correct. He had to thank these kids some time. "You are a stranger, right?" she said as she checked out his attire. From the way he was dressed and the way he stood, he surely was not from Konoha. Plus, she had never seen him before… and not all men around where that handsome…

Guessing from the way she looked at him and his clothing, he answered with a simple 'Hai', 'yes' if he was correct. He was relieved that she smiled, whatever that meant.

"Well, if you don't have anywhere to stay, I could let you in for a little… while…" from the way she flushed and the tone she used, she was asking something between 'Would you like to have sex' or 'Would you like to stay with me?'. He supposed it was the second, recalling her previous actions and seeing that the time was getting late.

"Arigato" he replied simply, a smile forming on his lips. When was the last time he had smiled… he couldn't remember. And what was the strangest among all… was that he liked it…

XxxxX

She could hear someone shouting in joy inside the room… and she knew only one person that could be loud… in a hospital. Opening the door, she held back a laugh that threatened to come out. On the floor of the room, which happened to be quite big, sat Naruto, Hinata and Kiba, playing with cards…

"May I guess who is winning?" all three stopped their game to look back at her, Naruto throwing one of the biggest smiles he could. "That lucky bastard" Kiba said with a grin of his own as he pointed a thumb at Naruto, who only kept grinning. Hinata only smiled, a blush covering her face, like every time she was close to Naruto anyway. Tsunade grinned at them…

"Alright, so I have a few questions for you guys" she sat down on the floor next to them after having closed the door. All three looked at her and her serious expression was more than enough to leave them the right message. "Okay, so Naruto, how the hell did you manage to go take back a cat, and come back nearly dead?" she asked calmly. Naruto scratched the back of his head, grinning once more

"Well, I was on my way back when that guy fell from above me" he was a little embarrassed to say this… "on me" Kiba laughed, laughed so hard that Tsunade barely held herself from punching him to shut up. Hinata only giggled at it, which somehow made Naruto more embarrassed, as his cheeks turned even redder…

"So, you mean that while you where coming back, that guy fell on you and then…?" she tried to continue, yet Kiba seemed to laugh harder, imagining the scene…

She really tried to keep herself from hitting him, she really did.

Now how her hand managed to punch him in the face, neither did she know.

Too bad the window at the other end of the room was open…

Too bad there was a trash can right under the window…

Too bad the trash can was open…

And too bad that Kiba missed it, only to fall in a small pond of water, accompanied with mud.

"So… where were we?" she asked with a sweet smile. Both teens exchanged a look, and then gulped as they looked back at the Hokage.

"Well, he then attacked me, and we started fighting." Naruto said with a shrug. "Then Hinata and her team came, right on time. I really owe you one, Hinata" he said, a grateful and enormous smile pointing right at said girl, who couldn't help but blush… a lot.

Tsunade grinned herself. She too owed her one, for she had saved her favorite gaki from death, after all. And how to repay it…? Ah, yes, she had the perfect idea.

She knew what had happened next, so further questioning would be in vain.

"Very well. I'll be leaving now, I've got to take care of a certain dog… and its master" she said as she fisted her hands, throwing them both a sweet smile before leaving.

From the moment Akamaru could move again, he had filled the whole hospital with hair… she smiled to herself. More reasons to punch Kiba then.

He could hear her footsteps fading as she walked away… "Creepy baa-chan…" Naruto said, his face faltering. He then looked outside the window "It's getting late…" he said, his voice and expression…

Tranquil? When was the last time she saw him like that?

"We should get to bed" he turned and smiled at her, an enormous toothy smile "Hinata" he stood up and extended his hand. She accepted it and he helped her up. Too bad, or too good though, that her bare feet slipped on one of the cards and she lost balance, falling right on him.

She let out a yelp of surprise before he caught her. Yet the surprise faded, letting her know what had really… happened…

She was so soft… god where all girls that soft? And she seemed so light, like a feather… she smelled like lavender… he wondered if there was any shampoo store open at this time…

Wait… bad Naruto! Don't think like that! You, mister, like Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan forever!

Even if his mind though, yelled at him to think of Sakura, his heart told him otherwise… and for the first time, he was torn in between which one to trust…

Nevertheless, he just happened to notice that Hinata had… fainted?! He quickly used one hand to check her pulse while the other holding her more tightly. This of course, made him feel even more of her…

God damn it, she was so soft that the idea of snuggling on her passed in his mind. Sakura's punches where never soft… not even close.

Bad Naruto! Sakura punches you and kicks your ass because she loves you! And you like it because you're a masochist! Oh crap, now even he insulted himself.

He was glad at least, that Hinata's pulse was normal. Even her smile… that peaceful, happy smile was there… on that pale face…

'Kawai' wasn't enough to explain what he thought right now… not even close… how the hell didn't he manage to see such things before? Maybe it was his endless pursue to bring back Sasuke… maybe it was the endless hours that the only thing he did was eat and train… maybe it was because the only girl he ever thought fit and perfect for him was Sakura…

But it was Sakura! Stupid Naruto, Sakura is the one for you! Come on, it is written in your hands that you will be together. And to her specifically, in her punches. Hmm now that he really thought about it, one time her punches had hit him in such a way, that the bruises left afterwards where resembling a heart! Yep, Sakura was most likely trying to say I love you! Silly Naruto, how could you miss that? Well, maybe it was the pain of broken ribs in the way, but he was thinking clearly now.

Wasn't he?

Putting his thoughts away for the moment, he settled Hinata back in her bed, covering her with the sheets. Now that he really could take a look, she seemed far more slender than normal… god that jacket really hid a lot. Now she wore a teal buttoned hospital shirt, along with matching pants. Heh, even they where buggy, making her look so small…

Alright, back to bed. And for god's sake Naruto…

Stop thinking! It hurts Sakura-chan's image in your mind.

XxxxX

He had little to no idea where she was taking him. He wasn't really used to women… pretty women showing him around. If he remembered correct, the women at his home where never near as… beautiful? As she was. He kept his hands in place and his eyes open for anything that would look hostile… he never let himself forget that he was in unknown and possibly hostile territory. His blade was ready to strike at any moment…

He barely restrained himself from taking it out. It was just the little girl…

She was tugging at his pants once more "Ya… ne" she said with a smile. He only smiled back, politeness the only expression the situation required. If he was correct, 'Ya-ne' was a verbal gesture of goodbye, was it not? He looked up, just noticing that the girl run up to two people, a little older than him. They must have been her parents, seeing as she called them Otou-san and Okaa-san. Another thing he had learned, was a few family terms. Now that he noticed… it was nightfall already, the lights on the streets illuminating the area. Wait… lights? Lights in the night? This was all wrong… there weren't any little suns around last time he checked. And this… lighting 'things' surely where not torches. He knew how torches looked…

He would have to learn more about this mysterious place later as it seemed. Turning once more to the family of the girl, he saw the emerald-eyed woman bowing, saying words of farewell that he couldn't really make out. He had yet to learn all of the 'goodbye' terms of this language… he sighed, seeing that Japanese was harder to learn than he thought. 'Gonbanya' or something like that… was goodnight, right?

He felt a tug at his sleeve, and shot out of his little trance he was as she smiled widely at him. She wore a pink-red kimono as it seemed, various colors and delicately made flowers spread everywhere on it. She already knew that he could not speak Japanese… if he was correct, and he was sure he was since she had pointed at the dress and said the word 'Kimono', then this type of dress was a kimono, quite unlike the ones the women in his land wore.

This was weird… he was keeping an eye out for every little movement that dared to happen around him, yet this was the first time he noticed what she wore…

He remembered her name… 'Sahana', was it not?

"Altair" she said, her smile still wide as he took his eyes off the kimono.

"Ikuzo" she said with a motion of her hand, encouraging him to follow. 'Ikuzo' should mean 'Let's go' or 'follow' he thought…

After a few more minutes of walking, they had made it out of the village through the east gate and into the forest. And that's when he started getting suspicious…

He knew some people lived outside in the forest, but very few they where. He had only seen one house on his way here and again he would not have seen it was it not for… that Neji guy and the Tenten girl pointing it out between themselves.

So what was going on here? He hoped he could trust her… yet again, Al Mualim had taught him one thing…

Never. Trust. Anyone.

He prepared the blade at his gloved hand, for better or for worse…

XxxxX

After another minute passed, they found themselves outside a small house. Or mansion. Things where going alright at the moment… yet he still had to be careful.

She happily pointed at the wooden mansion. The house looked so… Japanese. A small river run at the left side of it, hiding behind the trees and the darkness in the forest. Rocks found themselves pillared at the right side, forming a wall somehow between the building and nature.

She took one step forward…

One of his knifes flied…

XxxxX

She stood in shock, eyes wide open. What was going on…? Why…

A loud thud, a body hitting the dust. Or the grassy floor of the forest, for that matter.

Altair though didn't waste a moment. This was only one of the thieves, and surely, he was not alone. He shoved Sahana behind him, slowly reaching for his sword…

He was hiding well, he would give him that much. But he could easily see a tiny wine stain on a red carpet. An aged wine stain. His vision was one of his best attributes, having worked to make it perfect throughout the years. He unsheathed his sword, and prepared it to strike. If there where more of them here, they would strike soon…

Another one jumped seemingly out of nowhere, katana in hand. His upper-cut strike from above was easily intercepted by Altair's blade who slipped to the side, letting the man fall. His left hand flied swiftly, the mechanism in his glove letting the hidden knife come out and stab the man right to the neck, killing him instantly.

He settled once more in a ready stance as his hand-blade sheathed itself once more…

They where like shadows… hard to spot, popping out of nowhere. He looked at the ground… there where three rocks before… now they where four?

No longer that he did that thought, that the rock seemingly poofed into a black-clad man, his katana going straight for Altair's heart. He avoided the strike once more, slashing the enemy in the stomach as he moved aside, killing him instantly as he drove the blade out, letting his blood spill on the forest floor.

So they, had the ability to use some kind of illusions. Damn it, this was like when he had fought Al Mualim… though easier. Much easier.

His left hand reached for a knife from one of his chest holsters, and no longer than he did that, did the man that dared attack from behind find himself with a knife in his heart. He slowly fell back, his katana leaving his hand as his life faded away.

They could be anywhere…

"Katon: Gokakyou no Jutsu!" he heard someone yelling in the night from behind them, and he was sure that it was not for good. Looking back, a giant fireball was quickly finding its way towards them, scorching the forest floor and burning anything in it's way. He sheathed his sword, grabbed Sahana and jumped away in the last moment, letting the fireball move along and burn the corpses of the men he had killed… along with the mansion.

Said girl watched in fear as the fires began to take their hold on her house, burning it slowly, painfully. She heard Altair unsheathing something, another one of his knifes. She saw it flying in a straight line, hitting the ninja that had used the jutsu straight in the neck.

She had met him today… she had just met him today… he was a stranger, someone who couldn't even speak Japanese… yet he had saved her life…

She hugged him. Hugged him tight. He looked at her in confusion and then glanced the area. There were two more of them… but they were retreating. He sighed…

"Arigato" he heard her whisper between her sobs. She was crying? He didn't really know how to comfort people… he had grown up to be an assassin, not a psychologist… whatever that was.

What little he knew of comforting people… was a hug.

His arms found their way around her, keeping her close as he rested his chin on her head. She seemed to fit on him perfectly…

She backed away a little, a smile on her teary face. "Well, we should probably go speak to Hokage-sama, right?" he didn't understand a word, but her smile made it all look alright. He only smiled back

"Ikuzo" he whispered

XxxxX

**A/N: Thus ends the first chapter with a little cliffhanger. What will happen when Altair meets Tsunade? How will see react? Such questions shall be answered in the next chapter of 'Assasin's Creed' my friends. Oh, and Sahana is my own personally created OC, her name means Flower of the Desser (Sabaku no Hana). I hope you liked it. Please let me know what you thought about the Humor parts of this story. Till we meet again...**

**HoNdeR All Mighty**


	2. Chapter 2: The Life We Follow Part 1

**A/N: And here we go for a hundred time. Chap 2 is here, if only because I had so many Story Alerts ^^ Where are the good times when I could get 15-20 reviews per chapter? Well, I guess such things happen only during summer time eh? :P**

**Disclaimer: I had forgotten to place a disclaimer on the previous chapter I think, as well as in Towards The Heaven's last chappie -.- I tend to forget such things at times**

**Real Disclaimer: I believe that, if I owned either Assassin's Creed or Naruto in the least, then I wouldn't be here writing Fanfiction ne? I would be there working things out for NaruHina to happen ^^ Plus I would be rich =D  
**

_**Assassin's Creed**_

_**Chapter2: The Life We Follow**_

_**Part 1  
**_

_Stay your blade, from the flesh __of the innocent…_

_Never compromise the brotherhood…_

_Always strike from the shadows__…_

These where the rules of the creed… are you to disobey, then execution awaits. Yet it was not just a way for crowd control, it was not a way to keep the soldiers under order…

It was the way of the assassin. And that's why there is a difference between an assassin, and a cold blooded killer. The assassin is calculative, accurate and deadly. He never kills those that don't deserve it. He never kills an innocent. Are you to brake the rules, you brake your life, you brake what you are. And Altair had learned what that meant… the hard way.

He had to be careful… they where back in that village now, walking along the dark streets, illuminated by these… lighting things. What was this place really? Another syndicate of assassins? None of them had attacked him yet… he had noticed a few of them dressed in black robes jumping around the rooftops, wearing strange masks that represented animals…

Was it the right move to attack these kids back there? He didn't know if that blonde was really hostile. Amidst the confusion, he had done a mistake… he had assumed. Yet again, he could as well be dead right now, had he waited for the teen to show his intentions...

Sahana halted her movements and so did he, his fingers restless as he was prepared to defend himself at any moment. He threw a glance at her, who was smiling and pointing at an enormous building before them. He looked up…

It was… strange… the building was red, with a double door in the middle and stairs leading probably to the roof at its right. There was also a kanji at the front of the building, etched in a circle. The building itself seemed round…

She motioned him to follow and follow he did. They entered the building and took the stairs, heading towards the Hokage's office…

Two men appeared at the other end of the hallway… both with these green jackets and that bandana. They where talking about something in Japanese…

"Hokage-sama wants us to catch a white-dressed man that carries weapons around?" one of them said as he checked a scroll he held in hand. The other one only nodded, munching on something.

"Yeah, I've heard he's very dangerous. He managed to defeat four Jounin on his own…" he tuned them off as they passed right beside them… he glanced at the scroll, only for a moment…

And there was his picture. An exact copy of him, but in white. He was glad he had changed the attire… white could be easily spotted out there. He averted his gaze quickly, looking forward once more to wherever Sahana was leading him.

They stopped before a double door. She opened it and motioned him inside. He entered and she followed swiftly along. She closed the door and he looked forward…

The room was quite plain. All there was before him was a desk, a chair, a woman sitting in the chair, and a row of windows behind her, allowing a clear view of quite a large part of the village. Stacks of papers where spread around the desk, and the woman behind it was sleeping soundly…

Using one of the smaller stacks as a pillow…

Sahana seemed nervous as to what to do. He had little to no idea as to whom this woman was, but it seemed they had to wake her up, didn't they? He slowly approached the sleeping woman, who's blonde hair where caught up in two pigtails. She also wore a green jacket, with a kanji at its back and her body seemed to be wrapped up in clothing that looked like… loose bandages?

Now how do you wake up a sleeping woman… that smelled of alcohol… badly…

His lips where a straight line as he grabbed a bottle that resided next to her hand. He smelled the liquid inside… yep, this was alcohol, even though he had seen non like it before. He turned to Sahana, pointing a finger at the bottle he held.

The nervous look was still there as she unwillingly pointed the bottle herself

"Sake" she said and he only nodded. So either this alcohol was named 'Sake', or the word 'bottle' was 'Sake' in Japanese.

He searched his mind… how was the word… 'free' again? Ah, there it is…

He approached the sleeping woman, going around the desk and leaned over her ear…

"Free… Sake" he whispered in Japanese. It seemed to work as the woman's ears perked up. In a matter of seconds, she was awake, had taken the bottle out of his hand and was now jugging it down in amazing speed. He had seen people addicted to drinking before… but what the hell.

She easily through the bottle outside the window and it was lost in the horizon…

"That… hic! Wash… a goodsh… gottle… hic! Cheersh" and she fell asleep once more, her head resting on the stack of papers as she snored loudly.

"Hokage-sama…" Sahana whispered to herself in disbelief. Well, no one was perfect. For example, the legendary sannin, Jiraya, was a pervert to no end. The other sannin, Orochimaru, was an evil traitor. Indeed, everyone had their ups and downs. She looked up from the ground as her thoughts flied away. Altair was now sitting…

On the window? He was on a crouching position right on the windowsill, looking out at Konoha. She wished they could communicate more, she wished she would know more about the stranger, who had she not met tonight, she would be most likely dead.

"Tsunade-obaa-chan!!" the yell was so strong, that she nearly fell to the ground. Altair himself fell from the window, catching the windowsill with one hand in the last moment. He grabbed it with both hands and pushed himself up, looking back into the room. Now, the lady behind the desk was chocking a blond teen to death… wait, blond teen?

He knew this spiky hair… and these whisker marks. It was the guy from before… damn it, he could give him away!

He fell back down the windowsill, hiding on the perch that lied under the window. Hopefully, they would not notice…

"Altair?" he heard a feminine voice from above. Rising his head, Sahana was looking curiously at him from above. He brought one finger to his lips, motioning for her to silence. She hesitantly nodded before entering back in the office, where the Hokage kept trying to kill the blond.

"Naruto no baka!" he could hear the blonde lady yelling from inside. A shadow past by him… he had to be careful, and completely still. He was sure that that shadow was not a cat…

XxxxX

"Why the hell did you leave the hospital?!" she shouted in anger when she finally managed to control herself and leave the teen alive. He still rubbed his neck… it was painful, after all.

"I'm okay now baa-chan! You know I'm a quick healer anyway!" he shouted back. Sahana sat on a couch at the left side of the room, closing her ears. These two really where the something else when it came to yelling… and to think that the Hokage was drunk a few minutes ago...

"Uhh who's she?" Naruto pointed at the long brown haired woman. Tsunade blinked twice, then noticed Sahana herself, who kept waving at them, a nervous smile on her lips.

Tsunade cleared her throat before addressing the woman normally

"Please state your business here, citizen" she said, her expression neutral now. Sahana sighed, letting a glance fall at the window behind the Hokage…

She started telling her own little story. How she had met a strange guy in the streets and how he had managed to save her life when a group of ninjas attacked her house.

"Can you describe those ninjas?" Tsunade asked, now sitting in her chair with fingers interlaced and hands left on the desk. Sahana nodded and described them as… normal ninjas. A black attire with fishnet shirts and pants accompanying the picture, katanas adding to it. Tsunade only nodded…

"I see… any idea why they would be after you?" she asked once more, this time writing something down in a few papers in front of her. Sahana seemed to think about it for a moment…

"Well, I think I know…" the clash of blades drew their attention… it came from the window…

Both women hurried there and looking outside, there was a man in black attire and leather weapon holsters along with a leather belt, a red sash accompanying it. A silver dagger was in his hand as he fought for dominance over his opponents kunai…

The other man had long spiky silver hair, his lower face was covered by a mask while his left eye was hidden behind that leaf bandana. He had the regular attire the other… 'soldiers' he had seen around the village wore, expect that he instead wore a long sleeved dark blue shirt.

And the most… awkward thing of all, was that they fought to overpower each other right under the window, on a perch…

"Kakashi" the blonde woman said. He couldn't lose his concentration here though… this guy was strong.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?" what was this Hokage-sama anyway? Her name?

"What is this?" she calmly asked. Kakashi though didn't even flinch from his position as he made sure Altair wouldn't even move, without letting himself open, that is.

"I found him hiding on this perch, under the window…" his voice was harsh as he seemed to struggle to keep it balanced. The daggers moved, switching potitions…

Wrong move…

Altair's left hand moved straight for the jounins neck, the hand-blade poised to strike…

Kakashi caught his hand though, before it could reach its target. Now though, it was harder to stand on the perch…

The Jounin used his chakra to stick to it… but Altair knew not how to use such things…

He fell…

"Altair!!" yelled a feminine voice…

Kakashi's hand caught his left gloved one, before he could fall out of his grasp. He incredulously looked at the woman "You know him?" his tone was similar to his expression. She only nodded "He saved my life…" she whispered. Tsunade, though, was frowning…

Reinforcing his strength with chakra, he brought Altair back on the perch with one hand, said man sheathing his dagger at his back…

"Who are you?" The Hokage asked, yet Altair didn't take his eyes off the Jounin. She felt someone tugging on her sleeve "Ano, Hokage-sama… he doesn't speak Japanese" the Hokage looked incredulously at her…

"Doesn't, speak, Japanese? Do you at least know his name?" she asked the emerald eyed woman. She nodded before throwing a glance at the black dressed man, who kept his eyes glued on Kakashi under the black hood, said Jounin boringly looking back.

"Altair" she said, and this time, he titled his head slightly towards them, acknowledging the sound of his name. The Hokage sighed…

"You know, this guy previously today, wounded and nearly killed four of our Jounin" she said, pointing a thumb at said man, her expression frowned and eyes closed. Sahana gasped before worriedly looking back at Altair, said man once again having his eyes glued on Kakashi. He had saved him, he had to admit that much, but if he tried the slightest move, he wouldn't hesitate to retaliate.

"Well he surely is no ninja, if can't stand on a simple perch" Kakashi said before taking out an orange novel… "Icha Icha Paradise" it read. Sahana sighed… another pervert, it seemed.

"One of these four Jounin was Naruto" the Hokage simply said and Kakashi's visible eye went wide. He frowned before putting his book back in place. This time, he started returning the glare Altair gave him, slowly releasing killer intent…

'_Showoff…'_ Tsunade thought with a sigh. Both men where now looking at each other, Kakashi probably trying to intimidate him with his killer intent. Which so much happened to be high. Yet the hooded man didn't even flinch.

'_What is this… feeling? It's like… bloodlust… no, it's more refined, more targeted, concentrated.' _It seemed that the only reason Altair wasn't intimidated, was that he had no idea how the killing intent felt like, what it meant. He was a 'killer' himself though, so how can you intimidate him with that? It's like trying to scare a dog using a bone…

"Demo Hokage-sama, he saved my life!" Sahana insisted. "He killed the ninjas that attacked us…" she said more calmly now. Tsunade sighed "Kakashi, stand down" The Jounin slowly nodded, then leaped away, blending in the shadows. Altair's posture eased too as he looked back at the Hokage and Sahana. He nodded

"Arigato" He seemed to prepare to leave himself, was it not for Tsunade's iron grip getting to him before he could even flinch.

Altair wasn't really sure of what happened next. Something grabbed him, which that something happened to be the lady's hand, and then he found himself flying towards the wall…

Thankfully, the wall was thick enough to withstand the damage…

"That, was for hurting the gaki" Tsunade said as she dangerously approached the fallen man…

Of course, the noise generated woke our favorite blonde up… wait, when did he fall asleep again?

He stretched as a loud yawn escaped his lips. Rubbing the back of his head, he looked at Tsunade

"Baa-chan, can I go home now?" he asked, though his tone made it sound more like a statement, rather than a question. Sleepy as he was, he missed the evil glint her eye had for a second…

"Of course you can go home" she said with a sweet smile. Naruto grinned back at her. "Cool, so I'm off…" before he could finish his sentence, the Hokage had grabbed him and threw him outside her window in the direction she guessed that his house was…

"Have a nice trip Naruto!" she yelled to the flying teen who just kept screaming before getting lost in the darkness of the night…

"Now back to that Altair guy" Tsunade said to herself as she went over to the assassin with a wide smile. Sahana in the meantime, was a little worried… Altair wasn't a ninja, he couldn't use chakra to ease the fall. The idea of closing the window passed her mind… but the Hokage could easily break it as well anyway.

Said man though still tried to get up. Man, was this woman strong…

He felt someone grabbing him, then he lost the earth under his feet…

"Now you will have to spend a quality night Ibiki" she said while holding him in the air with one hand, an enormous smile on her face. He glanced at Sahana… her face was paler than normal. Whatever this woman here had said, it wasn't good.

He couldn't kill her… even if she had attacked him, killing her or at least attempting to would greatly compromise him. And she seemed to be an important person around here too…

"But, Hokage-sama, how is Ibiki going to interrogate him, when he can't speak Japanese?" Sahana pointed out hesitantly. She knew what happened when people dared to face Tsunade's wrath… she had seen many flying outside the towers' windows… screaming and all.

It seemed that realization decided to dawn upon the Hokage "Um… your right" she said with a wide smile as she let Altair drop, who managed to keep his balance and stay on his feet at least.

She gave a glance to Altair before opening the office's door and popping her head outside

"Bring me Inoichi! Now!!" she screamed, and god he really had to close his ears…

XxxxX

Wow, he could see Ichiraku's from up here! Cool! But wait… how could he land?

He looked forward once more and his eyes widened when he realized that he had started falling, the ground becoming more and more clear with each passing second. He had little time to think…

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he said with crossed fingers. As the last letter of the phrase was said, he extended one hand and grabbed the clone before he would fly away.

Normal physics take place here. But to place it simply, he was moving and the clone, couldn't have a speed when he was 'born', so he would rather fall to the ground right after the summoning, having no speed. Yet he grabbed the clone in order to ease his own fall.

And it worked, as with a swinging motion from the clone's side he found himself falling on his feet now, rather than his head.

Adding some chakra to them, he managed to land without breaking anything…

He thought he heard a voice screaming from Tsunade's office… nah, it must have been the flight, it gave give him delusions.

Well, it was time to sleep anyway. He would have a nice steaming bowl of ramen for starters, then a hot bath, and finally, the jump-high-and-fall-on-the-bed, his own way of tucking himself in. He nearly shivered at the thought, for it was his best way of ending a tiring day…

XxxxX

The room stood in silence as the blond haired man, the head of the Yamanaka clan, had placed his hand on Altair's head, searching his memories, his knowledge, his past. Sahana and Tsunade stood aside, watching as everything seemed to go smoothly. Inoichi didn't seem to have any trouble, his expression serious yet not even a sweat forming. Altair just lied kneeled before the blonde, waiting as the feeling of water washing his mind kept repeating itself over and over again.

Inoichi's expression though, suddenly turned to a troubled one…

'_You, have failed the Creed Altair!' said a bearded man, and most strangely, Inoichi could understand him…_

'_I'm sorry my child…' a new imaged popped, the same bearded man now holding a knife…_

_Altair strived to release himself, yet in vain as two other men held him in place, restrained._

_The knife found itself embedded in his side…_

_More images kept flashing… that bearded man… Al Mualim, ordering him to undertake assassinations around the cities…_

_Another image… Altair jumping on someone, left hand extended with a blade standing out of his glove. The blade found itself in the man's neck, and no longer that it did, he was dead…_

_Bells rang the alarm and Altair fled, climbing walls and jumping over rooftops as the guards of the city tried to chase after him…_

_Another city… this time it was darker… it looked like a hospital… no, hospitals aren't like this… they 'where' like this. Then that meant that Altair…_

_This time it was an old man… he was speaking with a patient… Altair approached slowly, the same blade standing out once more. This time, his right hand found itself over the old man's… the crusader's mouth so he couldn't scream as the blade was embedded in his kidney…_

_Altair started running once more, guards chasing behind as the bells of the city rang the alarm_

Inoichi retracted his hand. He could see no more of this…

"What's going on, Inoichi?" he heard the Hokage's voice calling, taking him out of his trance. He gave a look at Altair who was still kneeling before him, his expression emotionless under the black hood.

"I'm not sure, Hokage-sama" he responded, seeking time to put his own mind in order, trying to find the suitable words. He turned his gaze towards Tsunade…

"He" he motioned to Altair with his head "Is an assassin" and the Hokage frowned as her eyes turned darker. Inoichi had to act fast, before she could pound the poor man to the ground…

"He's not here for you, or any of us, Hokage-sama" he said and that seemed to ease the Hokage for a moment, before she looked incredulously at him once more.

"And what's he here for?! Vacation?!" she yelled, quite disbelieving that an Arab from lands beyond would come to Japan, in the elemental countries, for vacation. Dressed in black with a variety of weapons accompanying behind, not the most common tourist, she had to admit.

Inoichi shook his head "Iie" she noticed this word making Altair title his head towards them for a moment. She dismissed it as she looked back at the blonde "Then what Inoichi?" she asked again, this time more calmly.

Said man brought his hand under his chin, rubbing it slowly "Well, from what I saw, first of all, this guy over here" he showed Altair with one hand

"Is not from our time"

A few moments passed, before realization of what Inoichi's words meant dawned upon the two women.

"NANI?!" Altair really didn't know Sahana could yell like that…

XxxxX

Time for the jump. Three… two… one…

GO!!

A loud thud crossed the small apartment. Naruto groaned as he sat up, seeing himself not on his bed, but on the wooden, and rather hard, floor of his home.

"Sakura-chan, why did you do that?" he asked, titling his head to the left where his small balcony was, a pink-haired kunoichi laughing so hard that he wandered if she would suffocate…

"Sorry, Naruto, sorry, it's just that…" she broke in another wave of laughter. He sighed… this was most likely the tenth time he had fallen for this genjutsu trick. Sitting up, he finally noticed that Sakura was watching the scene unfold once more on her camera… great, now she would go around and show everyone…

He felt someone tapping his shoulder. Sakura had extended the camera towards him, the silver metallic color of the machine glittering in the slight light of the moon

"Happy birthday, Naruto!" she said cheerfully. She fathomed the idea of leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek, but this would give him too much courage… and if she knew Naruto, this was the last thing she wanted for his 'Naruto and Sakura' fantasies.

Wait… birthday? God damn, he had forgotten it himself. He titled his head towards the wall, looking at the diary.

"October… tenth…" he whispered to himself. He turned to Sakura once more, realizing that she had put the camera right in his hand.

"Oh, and here's a basket of my special soldier pills. You might need them" she said, handing him a basket out of nowhere. Where the heck had she hidden it anyway?

"Uhh thanks" he said with a nervous grin, his stomach groaning even at the thought of these dark-brown mud balls that she called 'Nutritious enhancements'.

"And something else" this time she leaned closer, to his ear. "Go check the front door… make sure you don't make any noise" she whispered silently. His expression grew curious

"Nani? Why?" he whispered back. She took a few steps away, heading for the small balcony once more. She looked at the blonde over her shoulder. "Just do it, Naruto" and with that, she jumped away in the night…

Said teen shrugged as he put the camera on the desk next to his bed and the basket of 'pills' on the kitchen table at the other end of his apartment.

He then slowly approached the door, so slow, that even he couldn't hear his footsteps. His hand reached for the door knob…

And he flung it open. Darkness met his eyes as he peered outside, checking for any thing suspicious…

XxxxX

"You are a bigger baka than he is, you know" she whispered to the blue haired girl hiding in the shadows. She let out a yelp of surprise before looking behind her, realizing it was Sakura the one that startled her. She sighed as her heartbeat calmed and dropped her head in shame, in shame for what she was, in shame for what she was doing.

She was a coward. She just couldn't go out there and claim what she wanted, she couldn't let herself be happy, or at least move on.

As for what she was doing, well… what do girls usually do when they are outside the love of their life's house and spy on him? Quite simple.

They stalk him. Or spy him. Or whatever the individual human that's reading this wants to call it.

"Ahh, come on Hinata" the pink haired girl said, trying to focus the kunoichi's attention out of the little self depressing world it had entered.

"It may not be me, it may not be the woman next door" Hinata looked behind her, at the apartment next to Naruto's…

From the window of her love's neighbor, she could see an old woman, sitting before a mirror, taking out her red long haired wig and giggling… or at least, trying to giggle, like a school girl.

She felt as if her dinner was about to come out…

Sakura's eyes twitched in annoyance after an observation of her own. "Ok scratch that"

Hinata's attention seemed to return to her friend, for now. "But point is" this time, Sakura sighed as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "He won't always be there, waiting, Hinata. He won't always be that buffoon that all he cares for is ramen and jutsus" she was looking the girl right in the eye. She wanted her to understand the situation, to see a bit more into the future, to know that life could be cruel…

She knew how cruel life could be. That night, when Sasuke had left… it was cruel. Maybe too much for a young teenager… way too much.

She didn't want her friend to feel like this, she didn't want her to have to live through this. She could see that both of them could be happy, she could see that both of them, really had a chance here. Plus, Naruto could finally stop bugging her on dates. Which… he had stopped asking for after the battle in the woods. Good god, there was mercy left in this world after all.

"One day, it may not be me, it may not be her" Hinata didn't dare to look at 'her' again, but by Sakura's frown and shook of head, she figured out that she had looked…

"But he will be gone, Hinata" she looked at the girl once more, trying to focus on her. Hinata was far prettier than that woman… don't look! It's bad for the health of your eyesight.

"He will go away, either by another woman" she might regret saying this, but truth had to be told "Or by death." She knew what Naruto meant to her, or at least part of it. A woman's mind, and in Hinata's case who was a human always closed to herself, is a really complicated thing.

"So go get your chance" she finished with a smile. Hinata smiled, at least a little encouraged by her friend's words.

"Arigato, Sakura-san" she said softly, that soft kind voice she always had, ringing in the darkness surrounding them, as they sat atop the tree overlooking Naruto's apartment, hidden between the leafs.

Hinata turned to face her fears, turned to face the sight of Naruto's house, to push herself out of her hiding place and talk to him, at least talk to him…

But as she saw him opening the door, she froze. That blonde hair… how she wished her hand could fly between them, just for once. Where they soft? Where they crude? That tanned skin… she was sure he was warm…

Sakura's eyebrow twitched in annoyance once more. Alright girl, if you're not going to do it on your own…

Hinata didn't even have time to yell…

XxxxX

Inoichi had his hand on Altair's head once more, this time, not retrieving information, but rather…

Giving them in.

The blonde was frowning as he struggled to put everything in the right order. It wasn't easy to teach Japanese this way…

He retracted his hand, as if Altair's hood was burning. He groaned as he placed a palm over his forehead.

Altair in the meantime, was trying to fight back an enormous headache…

"What happened, Inoichi?" the Hokage asked as curiosity took over her face, her posture, her voice. Inoichi was the head of the Yamanaka clan, a master of the mind. What could possible go wrong here?

"I don't know, Hokage-sama. I haven't done anything like this before" this time, he wiped his forehead before continuing "A language is a delicate and complicated matter, taught to each of us differently, cause simply the human mind can't absorb everything. None of us knows the whole dictionary backwards, and neither do we all have the same level of speech and education." He sighed as he looked at the two women, Altair kneeling in front of him.

"So, you mean that he can't learn Japanese this way?" the Yamanaka only shook his head in response. Damn it… she hoped that with such a fast way, they could extract delicate information more easily, rather than having Inoichi scan his mind for endless hours. For from what he had said, Altair's mind was complicated, locked. It was the mind of an assassin, locking away things was some kind of physical defense for his mind, in order to keep his sanity in place.

It would take weeks of endless and tiring scanning for him to get everything. There was only one way to do this…

"Someone has to teach him Japanese" he said, looking at the two women before him. Then his eyes focused on Sahana…

The Hokage didn't seem to have a different course of mind either.

Said girl looked at both with wide eyes "Nani?" she asked curiously. The Hokage smirked…

"Well, Sahana, here is a chance for you to serve your Hokage" she said cheerfully while crossing an arm around said woman's shoulders.

"You are the only one Altair knows and possibly even trusts" Inoichi said

"Thus, you are the only one that can have direct and probably fruitful contact with him" Tsunade added

"It is well known that people tend to learn more from people they like" the blonde continued

"And because I and Inoichi are too busy, you my girl" This time, the Hokage pointed a finger at Sahana

"Are going to teach him" Sahana only looked at them wide eyed. They had her… to teach an assassin… Japanese?

"See it as charity work. When he will be able to properly speak Japanese, he'll be out of your feet and we can properly interrogate him." The word, 'interrogate' didn't really sound good…

She sighed. She had heard rumors about how persuasive Tsunade could be… she had heard rumors about how far she could go… she didn't want to reach that limit.

"Fine, I'll do it" she said with a forced smile, though both the Hokage and Inoichi gave her an enormous grin. She then looked down at Altair, confusion running over the visible lower part of his face. He probably knew little of what they talked about…

"But, Hokage-sama" this time she looked at Tsunade "My house was run down by ninjas… where will I live?" she didn't want to go to her brother's house… he already had two children and a wife to care about, and the idea of two more people sure wasn't a welcoming one. She considered her parents, yet again, they where old people. They deserved tranquility.

Tsunade's grin though, didn't seem to leave her face anytime soon. "Don't worry about that, we have a small mansion to the western side of the village. You can live there for now, but when this… 'mission', is over, you'll have to find your own house unless you somehow manage to own the property" her grin was reduced to a smile as uncertainty seemed to radiate out of the girl. Well, you didn't teach a stranger who happened to be an assassin Japanese every day, now, did you?

The girl nodded as she approached Altair, he still kneeling, uncertain of what to do. She stood before the two men "But, Yamanaka-sama, how are we going to tell him the plan? He might think badly of it if I just get him to a mansion all of a sudden." She said, her hands united as she searched her mind for possibilities.

"Don't worry, at least I can do that much…" he motioned Altair to keep still again, and the man obeyed. He placed his hand on his head once more…

It wasn't easy… he had to search his mind, search it delicately, as he looked for certain things…

He had to somehow translate the plan in Altair's mind, in the simplest way he could.

"Sahana… Teach you…" that was all he managed to speak in Altair's mind as he was straining himself too far. Mind translations weren't something he did every day…

Altair titled his head, not quite understanding. He only knew that Sahana would teach him something.

He looked up at Inoichi, who started talking. Just, talking. He was saying something about the weather, and as he did so, he pointed to his lips.

Altair was no idiot, thankfully. So, the complete message should be like…

'_Sahana is going to teach you Japanese'_ well… this would be unlike any adventure he had before.

He looked at the brown haired girl, her green eyes looking at him as she waved with a nervous smile.

He smiled slightly himself… this would be interesting… one of the few times that he had to do something else than kill, at least.

XxxxX

Ok, he expected many things. A hostile ninja aiming a katana at him, Sakura prying to kiss him out of nowhere, hell he even expected that old lady next door to appear. He had seen her plenty of times eyeing him strangely… and hell he really wanted Ino to take these images and lock them somewhere.

But he really did not expect this. And by 'this', he meant a flying Hinata heading towards him out of nowhere, then crushing on him and then both rolling back inside his apartment. He thought he heard Sakura's laughter for a moment…

They hit, or rather he hit, the wall at the other end of the apartment, Hinata on top of him. He sat up with a groan, sifting Hinata away from atop him, if only so that he could get up and check out the damage.

Great, the wall had a small crack now. His back ached… really ached, and Hinata seemed to be unconscious, her face flushed, as always.

He rubbed the back of his head… what was he supposed to do now? At least, he was still conscious, he could take care of her. He walked back to the entrance of his home, closing the door and then looking back at the girl that seemed to sleep on his floor.

He sighed as he neared. What do you do with an unconscious, or sleeping girl in the middle of the night? He glanced at his clock… it was eleven o'clock, five minutes before midnight, before this day would be over and everyone, except Sakura, forget that it was his birthday. She seemed to be the only one to remember it whatsoever… well, she was his teammate, she was supposed to remember, after all.

Her face was still flushed… no wonder, this lavender jacket looked really heavy for such a warm night. He checked her pulse… it was thumping rhythmically and slowly, indicating that she was asleep. Good…

He unzipped her jacket slowly, checking if she wore something inside. He sighed in relief as he noticed a pink shirt underneath. When he managed to relieve her of the jacket, he picked her up with both hands, heading for his bed.

There where times like this that he wished he had a quest room. Lying her down on his bed, she didn't seem uncomfortable with his smell or with the bed whatsoever at all. She rather hugged his pillow… tight.

He let a chuckle escape him. She looked like a little child when she was like this. Truth be told, it was the first time that she was… like this. Peaceful…

The flush seemed to have retreated as a small smile had crept on her face. He placed the covers over her and she seemed to be even more comfortable.

He turned around, heading for the kitchen. He really needed some ramen…

"Naruto-kun…" he heard her mumbling. He quickly turned his head to look at the still sleeping girl. Was she talking in her sleep or something…?

He dismissed it. It was probably his smell that was all over the place and made her dream of him. It was his house, how was it supposed to smell like? Pink flowers? He turned to walk to the kitchen once more

"Happy birthday" he froze. Then a grin found its place on his face, a wide grin, accompanied by happiness. So, someone else remembered too…

The clock on his wall rang softly as its arrows pointed midnight…

XxxxX

It must have been… midnight? He looked up at the sky… it was dark, pitch black with tiny dots that people came to call stars spread everywhere, illuminating the darkness with an amazing variety of shapes and colors. The contrasting light of each star seemed to contradict with the other, allowing different colors of blue and purple to dominate the sky.

His attention returned to the earth as he noticed Sahana no longer next to him. Where had she gone…?

He remembered her whispering something to him in Japanese, then heading into a store… he titled his head to the left. From the looks of it, it was most likely a wine store. He could smell the wine from here anyway. He took a step forward…

People started running outside as screams filled the air. They tumbled against each other as they struggled to get outside. He could hear some louder screams as well… someone in there was yelling something like 'Yosh!' at the top of his lungs, and by the way he did it, he surely seemed to enjoy it.

He pushed through the crowd as his eyes darted from face to face, seeking these dark emerald eyes. If she died in the commotion, who would teach him how to speak?

Looking inside, he noticed that the store was pretty big itself, probably one of the main wine vendors around this village. He could see a man clad in green running around, yelling, punching and kicking endlessly as two others tried to restrain him, one a long brown haired man and the other a girl with her own brown hair tied in two buns. Wait… these where the… people, who had taken him with their caravan, who had led him here. And the bowl-haired one seemed flushed as his, friends, struggled to stop him. He saw Sahana in one corner, trapped under a table and in between some barrels, unable to move. Someone must have had thrown her between these two barrels, and then in the commotion, the table had fallen over her, restraining her movement.

He had to reach her, before the green menace could brake the table like all the other things he found in his way and probably smash her with it…

He started running, jumping over debris and ruined chairs and tables as he struggled to be faster than the green-clad man, who kept smashing tables and chairs in front of him, fluidly escaping any attempts his teammates did to catch him and heading rapidly towards the table Sahana was under, which so ironically, was the last one in the row.

It was much unlikely, that in this state he would notice her at all. So he had to move… move faster…

He threw one of his knifes at the green-clad man, yet he dodged easily and restarted his rampage. Good, he had won a few seconds at least. Though the drunk teen was not more than a few meters away from Sahana now…

"Yosh!!" He yelled as he prepared his leg to strike, ready to reduce the table Sahana was trapped under to dust, and along with it, probably take her life. He wasn't fast enough… damn him, he just wasn't fast enough. He reached out, only a split second away from the table…

The teen's leg went downwards, the strike unstoppable now…

XxxxX

Who the hell, was the smart guy, the brilliant genius, that allowed Lee… who? Lee! To drink Sake! God damn Sake! He thought he could stop it before it was too late… but he was only a second away before the liquid touched Lee's lips. It was only a sip… only a small sip… yet now this had happened. The easiest thing in the world, by his opinion, is to get Lee drunk. And when you did, you had a ninja on a rampart right between your feet, taking down everything in his way.

He tried to catch him, tried again and again, yet Lee's Drunken Fist evasive moves where too fluid and fast for him to even touch. He and Tenten could hardly keep up with his speed. If Lee was a menace when he got drunk at his pre-teen, now he was most likely unstoppable. But 'unstoppable' is a relative term, isn't it?

He saw a man dressed in a black attire running towards the last table of the row, he saw him throwing a knife at Lee, who simply dodged it and return to his antics. The man seemed far more interested for the table though…

His eyes went wide when he saw a hand under the table, in between the barrels. Someone was down there, and if Lee kicked, he would kill him…

He had to act fast… damn it, Lee was preparing to strike! He had to stop this, but how…? No one ever blocked Lee's senpu kick, not without breaking something, at least.

His eyes went wide as the leg went down…

XxxxX

Lee's drunker eyes looked down in curiosity, as something, or rather, someone, seemed to have stopped his leg…

"What are you doing there? I wannash smash something" he yelled the first part while whispering the last. Though the attention was not caught by Lee's leg… it was rather, the one that had stopped it.

A blue whirlwind of power reigned around Altair as he held said man's foot with both hands right above his head. The whirlwind soared around him as he clenched his teeth. He didn't know what was going on, but he suddenly felt really… strong…

Neji activated his bloodline and his eyes nearly jumped out of his head.

"He… he has… activated… his chakra…" he said in amazement, as when he checked the man when he entered running, his chakra was inactive. Few were those that could manage that without deep concentration, especially if it was their first time.

But the strain of the moment, the adrenaline and the situation all in all must have had somehow forced his chakra to activate, boosting him in order to stop Lee's kick. And from what he could see, he was currently using his chakra at full force, probably unbeknownst to him…

"Tenten, get Lee, now!" chains flew to the beast of Konoha junior as the weapon mistress restrained him with her chains as he was too busy trying to process what had happened in his drunken mind. She forced him away, letting him fall in back. Strangely, Lee found the floor the perfect place for a nap. He started snoring energetically, as Gai would put it.

The whirlwind around Altair resided back inside him as the man fell to his knees. This… was… exhausting…

Neji could see it… using his chakra for the first time and putting so much strain into it, was really tiring for the man. He walked over and took the table away then pushed one of the barrels at the side, letting Sahana free. She quickly sat up and neared Altair, whose consciousness probably hang off a string as he fought to keep his balance.

He felt slender hands reaching for his shoulders. He titled his head to meet sad dark emerald eyes…

"Arigatou…" he heard that now familiar feminine voice whispering as his mind drifted off, to the lands of darkness, and dreams.

"He will be okay. He just exhausted himself." Neji said as he neared the two of them, Tenten a few meters away, smacking Lee on the face, trying to wake him up.

This man… he was so oddly familiar. Like that Altair guy… his attire was seemingly the same, if only a different and cleaner color. His weapons where the same and his chakra was inactive too. Could it be…?

"Mam, may I know this man's name?" he asked. Sahana looked at him, unsure if it was alright to speak of him.

Neji could see it. Of course he could see it. She was reluctant to tell him. That was enough for him…

"Very well, I have no right to press the matter." She only nodded as she returned at staring at Altair's sleeping form. She seemed troubled for something else…

"Ano… can you help me carry him? Our house isn't far from here" the last sentence didn't seem to come out right, as if she was nervous to say it. Well, he was not one to poke his nose in other people's personal matters… well, except Hinata-sama's. But she was different, she was his cousin! Dare someone to hurt her, and he would have to deal with him… and his two little friends.

Back to the present, he nearly smacked his forehead. Of course she would need help, she wasn't a ninja and neither did she seem that well build in order to carry such a man. He calculated a difference of around 50 pounds on weight and… he should be a head or so taller than her.

He nodded as he picked up Altair's unconscious body, dropping him on his back. He turned to his teammates…

"Tenten, wake up Lee and if he's not drunk, help fix up the place. I'm going to give a hand here" he pointed with his eyes to Sahana, who smiled at the questioning kunoichi nervously. Tenten smiled brightly back.

"Okay!" and then she began smacking Lee again… this time harder.

XxxxX

"Here we are!" Sahana said cheerfully for maybe the first time this day as she pointed a hand at the house. It wasn't big… rather a regular house among others. Now, why Hokage-sama had called it a 'mansion', she didn't really want to know.

Neji stared at it… compared to the Hyuuga compound, this place looked tiny. He would shrug was it not for Altair's weight on his shoulders. This was a home for two or a few more people after all.

Getting inside, he could easily notice the smell of renewal in this house. It seemed to have been boarded up for some time, only cleaned recently.

Sahana only stared. When the hell had the Hokage managed to clean it? It was obvious that the house had been cleaned only recently, if not a few hours prior. Oh well…

Looking at the paper she held in hand, she asked Neji to let Altair on the couch, as she kept rolling over the small map for the bedrooms, the kitchen, and every practical room a house was obliged to have.

She folded the paper up "Thank you Neji-san. I appreciate your help" she said with a smile as said man put Altair down. "It's my duty and pleasure to help, Sahana-san. Anytime…" he said as he waved, his lips forming a small smile before exiting the house. Now he had to run… if Lee was still drunk when he woke up, he doubted Tenten's chains would be enough…

Sahana sighed as she went to the kitchen. It was a rather normal kitchen, filled with all the accommodations and furniture a room like this would need. Checking the shelves, she found enough materials for cooking… she smiled to herself.

XxxxX

Perfect… just perfect… it was the first time that he had managed to run himself down that much. This… 'blue thing' though, was somehow, really powerful. Even now, he felt different. He felt as if something was swimming inside him, like a calm sea, waiting for something to bring her waves up, to bring up destruction.

What was it, he could learn later on. Was it though, a gift or a curse? Was it abnormal? He would have to check it out later on…

As for now, a wonderful smell came to his nose. It smelt like…

Food!

XxxxX

Her eyes slowly opened, the blurry images in front of her clearing quickly as she focused… and focused… and realized.

She nearly screamed when she took notice of where she was. This smell, this colors, this man sleeping in the couch next to her…

She was in Naruto's apartment! She quickly sat up, only to discover that somehow, she had gotten tucked in his bed… Wait, where's her jacket?

She blushed, but was glad to look down and find all clothes in place. She held herself as to not grab a pillow and stuck her nose in it… the whole place smelt like Naruto… and said man was sleeping on the couch next to the bed…

Naruto really wasn't one for a calm sleep. He was upside down, legs hanging from the couch's back as his head was ready to drop to the floor, the covers barely covering him.

Smiling, she moved to reach out for him. With a little strain, she managed to move his body to the right position and placed the covers over him… his expression was… calm.

It was one of the few times… that see had seen this boy… calm. He would always be energetic and bounce around, yet now, he slept so peacefully. He didn't even snore… much. She giggled as she took notice of the 'hat' that occupied his head, the rest of his body clad in pajamas. She felt sorry for having to put him through this, for having him sleep on the couch. Just because Sakura had launched her on him… and she had fainted.

All this, because she was still weak… too weak to even stay awake in his presence. Too weak to even… even…

"Hinata…" she heard a whisper. She quickly turned to its source as her heart jumped, only to realize that it was Naruto who had said her name… wait, Naruto?

Her heart was full of joy for a moment…

"Ramen…" well, it was a good moment. Too bad good things don't last much. His dream had probably turned in one filled with ramen…

She glanced at the clock… it was 3 o'clock in the morning, no way she would go back to her own house now. She did the only thing possible at the moment…

She fell back on his bed and closed her eyes, allowing sleep to slowly take over her, Naruto's smell keeping her company as her mind drifted off, her face bearing a smile…

Unbeknownst to her, the dream Naruto had was not at all concentrated on ramen, for it was rather focused on who ate said food…

XxxxX

He didn't know she could also cook, but he guessed it was regular around here for a woman that lived on her own. It took him a few minutes to understand how to hold these… sticks, in order to eat.

Sahana helped him of course, showing him the right way of how to hold a chopstick, and how to eat. Unfortunately, the only food that they had plenty of supplies on was…

Ramen…

Altair managed to bring some noodles to his mouth… she watched as she braced herself. Would he like it? He was not from Japan, so such foods would most likely be uncommon to him…

He took the noodles in and munched. Slowly. Really slow. He then gulped them down…

Time seemed to stop for a moment…

Then Altair started eating again, this time more quickly as he ate the food with all he had. It had been years, no, it was the first time that he tasted something so… flavorful!

He even picked up the bowl to drink the whole soup down…

Sahana stared in amazement. She knew only one other man who would eat ramen like that, and she had met him one day when she had went down to Ichiraku's Ramen shop for a meal. He had blonde hair, if she remembered correct, and he ate ramen as if it was the nectar of the gods…

Altair didn't seem to have a different opinion. He pointed to his bowl with a smile. She sighed as she got up to fill it up again. She heard him saying 'Thanks' as she took the bowl away and put some more noodles and soup to it. This time, it didn't take Altair more than a minute to gulp it down. He had still some way to go, since he didn't really know how to handle chopsticks.

Tomorrow, she would have to teach him how to say 'Please'…

She slowly ate her own bowl…

Altair didn't really believe that food could taste this good. The…'diet' he had back there wasn't at all appealing for someone who liked to eat, and from now on…

He liked to eat too. Sahana's expression seemed thoughtful as he noticed when he put his bowl down. He hesitate to ask for more… she already had the strain of having to teach him a language, he didn't want to make her his servitor… err, cook too! He smiled as she looked up at him, saying thanks once more before leaving the table. He could see plenty of strange devices around…

A tall box that was cold to the touch, the insides even colder even if it was food. Some other metallic things decorated the room as well as one of this 'Light-Givers' hang above his head. He decided that sooner all later, he would know. For now…

He really felt tired.

Going back to the other room, he laid down on that bed like thing. It was soft and sturdy, if only a little small. But he managed to get comfortable nonetheless. Closing his eyes, he let sleep take over his body… take over it and help time pass, in order for another day to come.

Sahana sighed from the kitchen. Japanese was only one thing she had to teach him… what about the modern world? The man was from the past damn it! Tsunade had given her more than she thought…

One thing was for sure…

Tomorrow was going to be a long day…

XxxxX

Tsunade sighed as she took one more sip of her sake, Inoichi sitting in a chair across her desk.

"Well, I'm not really sure that we can trust her…" the blonde said as he looked at the Godaime. Tsunade only stared at him

"Hokage-sama, she's not a ninja and this man is an assassin! Even if he is from another time, how do we know that she will be safe?" Inoichi was a little twitched. He had rethought about the matter, and right now, this really didn't seem like a good idea.

Tsunade smiled widely at him. "Don't worry, Yamanaka" she said, that smile not faltering.

"Sahana is just…" she started examining the bottle of Sake she held in her hand

"Too cute to kill" she grinned widely at the blonde, who sighed as he hang his head in defeat. What kind of conversation can you hold with a drunken Hokage anyway…?

XxxxX

**A/N: Gomenasai for any mistakes you might find. I was bored to proofread it :P I would like you guys to drop a review this time and if you read any of my other stories, don't hesitate to review them, be sure that I will always see a review, no matter when I had written the story or chapter.**

**I'm a review junkie, I really like them =D**

**Btw, why the hell do we have to write disclaimers? As if any person in his right mind would come here to write Fanfiction if he owned an Anime or Video Game etc. :P Stupid rules xD**

**ANOTHER POINT: Those that know Altair may think that he is a little OOC. Well, that's good. I want him to have a human side here, rather than only being an assassin. Plus, a dark mysterious and closed to himself guy wouldn't fit here ^^**

**This story is not ought to go too far. I'm already writing Towards The Heaven, plus a story of my own, plus a School comedy Act :P And PLUS, I have so many freaking ideas and so many stories that I want to write here! If I get each story to have... 20 chapters with an average of 10k words in each chapter, then it might take me years to get over with it! **

**The only reason this story might be around 10 chaps, is that I already have one on the roll and I don't have the... mood, to write two long stories at the same time ^^**

**SO! please drop a review, as I said, I'm a sucker for reviews, for in the end, they let me know what kind of people and who really read the story and had something to say about it. Plus, I love looking the review numbers when I look at 'My Stories' on my account =D**

**This is all for now. Been some time since I wrote such a long A/N... lol**

**Till we meet again  
HoNdeR All Mighty**


	3. Chapter 3: A Message To The Fans

**OOOOKAAAAYYYY FOLKS!! Got some big news here!**

**I am freaking rewriting Soulmate: By Your Side, my first and best fanfic till today!!**

**Why, you may ask? Simple! Team Darkhope is hosting the 2008-2009 fanfiction awards! I know this Darkhope guy since he's an active NaruHina fan from what I remember and have seen him on the clab of the pairing, so... I'll be busy rewriting my little legend back there! I really wanna participate in the event, and since Towards The Heaven isn't complete and ready for the task, neither will it be any time soon, only thing remaining is for me to rewrite my finished story and hopefuly make it even better and more enjoyable using the knowledge and power I have earned through my writings up to now. **

**SO folks! Don't forget to vote for me! If you haven't read Soulmate yet, I would wish you not to... yet. I wanna rewrite it first so you can have a clear view of my current skills, rather than my old ones. Soulmate: By Your Side will remain a basically Romance fic where I get Naruto and Hinata together pretty soon. Yeah I know this isn't and the best course of action and I might as well try to change that, add chapters with more drama but not affecting the storyline. So all in all, I have serious work ahead of me since I'm taking one more step towards my dream. To become a great author, that is :)Right now, I'm good. But if I at least manage something out there, manage to achieve something in this awards contest, then I'll know that I'm at least taking a step forward. This is all, and don't forget to vote for me folks when the votes open! If you want more info on this one, I suggest you visit the following url:**

**Www(dot)fanfiction(dot) net / s /4841243/ 6 /The_Naruto_2008_2009_ Fanfiction_Choice_Awards this will get you some info on what I'm talking about. I'm signing up for Author of the Year (I can hope ne?) Best Romance fic of the year and... Best Happy ending. I think that's it ^^ Hope I'll get somewhere. **

**Soulmate: By Your Side was a success when it first came out from the hands of an inexperienced rookie author who had no idea what literature really was, what can the words that you write do to the soul. Now, with all the knowledge I possess I will do my very best to make Soulmate an even more enjoyable story that will hopefully reach somewhere. I know I'm not the best out there, I know I'm not the most intelligent or best author, but I can try, can't I? I've heard there are plenty of other sign ups this year, competition is sure to be tough. That's why I need my readers here. When Soulmate is redone though, I can promise that it will shine... like a star in an endless sea of darkness. Hell yeah! Now I'm off, starting to work on my story once more! Gotta fix grammar, fill plot holes, probably add thingies, add EVEN MORE FREAKING fluff that it ALREADY has, kick some drama in and generally make this shit even better!**

**In conclusion, my stories "Towards The Heaven" and "Assassin's Creed" will remain where they are till I'm done with this. Sorry about this folks, but what the hell I'm human! I can't work on everything at the same time! :P**

**SO OFF I GO! Let the leg-raping plot bunny kick in, let the muse of writing enter my mind and thee shall tremble! I don't know if this made any sense... of well xD I tend to overreact when I'm excited...**

**Till we meet again,**

**HoNdeR All Mighty**

**PS: This message shall be REDONE when I finish and post up a brand new Soulmate: By Your Side. I freaking wish I had finished the sequel too... of well.  
**


End file.
